Kuala Lumpur: Australia’s Scott Hend was delighted with his move to eighth place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit after coming off an encouraging week at the CJ Invitational Host by KJ Choi where he finish tied-fifth.
The Australian pocketed US$28,087 to move three notches up the rankings and secured his place at the prestigious US$6.1 million CIMB Classic which will be held at the Mines Resort & Golf Club from October 25-28.
Top-10 players on the Asian Tour Order of Merit after the CJ Invitational qualify for the CIMB Classic while the top-five players after the Venetian Macau Open will tee off at the US$7 million WCG-HSBC Champions in November.
Hend, a two-time Asian Tour winner, believes he is getting back to his best form and is hopeful that he will reach peak performance very soon.
“My performance has been pretty good. I’m getting there. I’ve good vibes about what’s going on and my best is not far away,” said Hend.
“I just have to work on a few things and I’ll be ready. My goal at the start of last week was to secure a place at the CIMB Classic and this week, I’ll try to secure a position for HSBC,” added Hend.
Despite missing out on a grandstand finish at the CJ Invitational last week, Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil is happy that he is regaining that much-needed confidence as the Tour heads into an exciting period with several high-profile events lined-up.
“Although I did not win, I’m happy that I could put myself into contention. It has been sometime since I’ve been among the leaders and I enjoyed the feeling. I’m starting to play well again and I just need to stay patient and the results will come,” said Chinnarat.
The 23-year-old was in contention for his fourth Asian Tour title last week but was let down by his putting in his last seven holes where he dropped three shots.
Chinnarat however, does not plan to lose much sleep over it and is prepared to resume his charge in Macau again.
“I’m looking forward to Macau and hopefully I can play well and put myself into contention again,” said Chinnarat who moved up 20 spots to 38th place on the Order of Merit.
Australia’s Marcus Fraser continues to lead the rankings with US$472,094, followed by South Africa’s Jbe Kruger on US$453,588 and Japan’s Masanori Kobayashi with US$400,289.